Everybody knows about the "negative learning" effect of July and August. Students enter the next grade in September having lost knowledge and proficiencies that they possessed in May.

Washington, DC – In a seminal study of international teacher preparation released today, researchers found a striking parallel between future U.S. teachers’ knowledge of mathematics content and the performance of the students they teach.

5.11.10 – LOS ANGELES – Ten years after launching an historic building blitz and pouring 20.3 billion bond dollars into more than 180,000 new classroom seats and 100 new schools, Los Angeles Unified School District's narrow mission (new seats), further stifled by state and local bureaucratic silos

5.1.10 – During this year’s Charter School Week, May 2-8, the charter school sector would be well served to adopt the posture of the Roman god Janus, simultaneously looking both to the past and the future. The past up to the present to acknowledge and celebrate the sector’s growth over almost two decades;

4.27.10 – Gene Glass – As online classes escalate, school leaders ought to ask about teaching quality, authenticity and accounting practices

4.27.10 – Through the Educating the Total Child advocacy campaign, AASA members are committed to creating the conditions necessary for all students to become successful, lifelong learners. The campaign addresses three key factors that determine children’s academic achievement:

4.27.10 – The rapid enrollment growth in online classes by K-12 students is outpacing the development of school district policies to govern such issues as seat time requirements, teacher qualifications and credit recovery. Freelancer Kate Beem also looks at three prevailing models of virtual education in local schools.

4.21.10 – Cato fairly notes flaws in national curriculum standards but then proposes unfounded recommendations for free-market policies, review finds

3.30.10 – Michael F. Shaughnessy – RIF does not endorse any one theoretical framework for teaching reading. RIF inspires children to be lifelong readers through the power of choice. Through a national network of dedicated volunteers

3.24.10 – Tom Sticht – The results of the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) indicated that almost half of adults (47%) had only Basic or Below Basic literacy skills. This lead the Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings, to declare that this supported President George W. Bush’s plan

3.23.10 – Washington, D.C.—Whether it's the contentious multi-year negotiations over the teachers contract in Washington, D.C., or the debates in many states over competing for Race to the Top funds, teachers contracts are at the center of the education reform debate today. Once of interest only to education insiders, contract issues and calls for reform are now widespread.

3.19.10 – Rick D. Niece, Ph.D. – I have truly enjoyed each position, and to this day I have never been heard to say, “I am going to work.” I always say, “I am going to school.” The subtle, yet pronounced distinction between those two statements speaks volumes

3.14.10- Kalman R. Hettleman – The recently announced settlement agreement in the 26-year lawsuit over special education for Baltimore City students is welcome news. It's been overdue for at least a decade and is a mark of the formidable leadership of CEO Andres Alonso. But there is less to the hoopla than meets the eye.

3.10.10 – Through the magic of public access television, I recently watched debate before the state House of Representatives on bills to reform the tuition scholarship tax credit program. I'm happy to report that legislators engaged in a substantive discussion and adopted amendments from both parties.

3.3.10 – Donalyn Miller – As I stand in the hallway, monitoring students at their lockers before school begins, Emily wanders over to chat. She has been reading Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (Simon and Schuster, 2000), a historical fiction novel about the 1793 yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. The events in the book have piqued Emily's interest in medicine and epidemics.

3.2.10 – Thomas Newkirk – Open any newspaper and you are likely to find a story of some school whose students have read a million, two million—some big number of pages. As a payoff, the teachers wear pajamas for a day, or the principal shaves his head or agrees to eat worms, a reward to the delighted students.